Isaiah 40:1 ESV Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

This is my hope. Can my words bring comfort to you? In verse 2 are some suggestions that are good but then in verse 3 there is that great memorable verse which says: “A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” John the Baptist quotes this line declaring he is that voice and that the Lord is coming.

The Lord came and spoke. The Lord came and died for our sins. The Lord proved His power over death and gives us life. The Lord left us with these instructions; “Love one another.” Is there anything more comforting than to be loved?

I have suffered the consequences of my sins. If my confession should help one person avoid suffering those same consequences, then it was worth it. The Word of the Lord has directed me around many a temptation. If by sharing His Word it will help just one person avoid any particular sin, then the years I have spent sharing His Word was worth it.

Isaiah 40:2 ESV Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

Tenderness, peace, a pardon and reward are all included in His Word. We can own those words. We can live those words. We can be all that He is because He abides in us. We are His dwelling place. His presence changed our lives, and changed us. This is our witness of the living God, to be His lamp into the darkness.

Our part in this system is to be a cooperating witness.

Philippians 2:3 King James Version (KJV) Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

This is the KJV I was searching for to begin yesterday. We can see those words “better than” which led me to that passage I converted to the ESV.

Lowliness of mind was humility in the ESV. Esteem was more significant in the ESV. Searching the scriptures by remembrance brought to mind by the power of the Holy Spirit is possible because we have read His Word. The version which we use is not as important as what the Holy Spirit does with that knowledge.

2 Timothy 2:20-21 English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁰ Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

The Holy Spirit brings us the Word of truth, but we still need to walk in truth.

What the KJV and ESV translate from the Greek in agreement in these verses is “great house”. Both hint at the fact of the indwelling love of God. We are His temple, His great house. God and silver have value which glorifies God. Wood and clay exist in us also and their use does not glorify God.

If by lowliness of mind we esteem others higher, as we look up to God from that position, we will see how others perceive and communicate. That understanding will allow us to communicate better with others. We can then communicate better to them what we see of our God.